Tag Archives: Brent Mydland

Earth (AKA “the World” or “the Globe”) is the third planet from the Sun and is the birthplace of humanity and the cradle of human civilization.

‘s Earth Day Doodle!

Earth is approximately 4.6 billion years old. The oldest known rocks are about 4 billion years old (rocks older than 3 billion years are rare) and the oldest fossils of living organisms are less than 3.9 billion years old. With a radius of 3,959 miles, Earth is the biggest of the known terrestrial planets, and the fifth largest in our solar system.

Planet Earth, Sol System, Milky Way Galaxy, Universe

71 Percent of the Earth’s surface is covered with water. Earth’s atmosphere is 77% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, with traces of argon, carbon dioxide and water (H20). Earth’s oceans have an average depth of about 2.5 miles and contains 97 percent of the planet’s water. Earth has a central (inner and outer) core, a rocky mantle and a solid crust.

The name “Earth” is at least 1,000 years old and it is the only planet whose name doesn’t come from from Greek or Roman mythology. The name is from Old English and Germanic origins and means “ground”.

Earth orbits the sun and completes one daily rotation every 23.9 hours. It takes 365.25 days to complete a one year trip around the sun. The Earth’s axis is tilted 23.4 degrees to the plane of the planet’s orbit around the sun and this causes the cycle of seasons.

Earth is the only known planet that has a single moon. The moon is (an average distance of) 238,855 miles away from Earth.

Planet Earth, Sol System, Milky Way Galaxy, Universe

A beautiful Waikoloa sunset on the Big Island of Hawaii

We Can Run
by John Barlow & Brent Mydland

We don’t own this place though we act as if we didIt belongs to the children of our children’s kidsThe actual owners haven’t even been born yet

But we never tend the garden and we rarely pay the rentMost of it is broken and the rest of it is bentPut it all on plastic and I wonder where we’ll be when the bills hit

We can run but we can’t hide from itOf all possible worlds we only got one, we gotta ride on itWhatever we’ve done we’ll never get far from what we leave behindBaby we can run, run, run but we can’t hide

Well I’m dumping my trash in your back yardMaking certain you don’t notice really isn’t so hardYou’re so busy with your guns and all of your excuses to use them

Well it’s oil for the rich and babies for the poorWe’ve got everyone believing that more is moreIf a reckoning comes maybe we’ll know what to do then

We can run but we can’t hide from itOf all possible worlds we only got one, we gotta ride on itWhatever we’ve done we’ll never get far from what we leave behindBaby we can run, run, run but we can’t hide

All these complications seem to leave no choiceI heard the tongues of billions speak with just one voiceSaying just leave all the rest to me, I need it worse than you, you seeThen I heard the sound of one child crying

Today I went out walking in the amber windThere’s a hole in the sky where the light pours inI remember the days when I wasn’t afraid of the sunshine

But now it beats down on the ashphalt landLike a hammering blow from God’s left handWhat little still growsCringes in the shade till the night-time

We can run but we can’t hide from itOf all possible worlds we only got one, we gotta ride on itWhatever we’ve done we’ll never get far from what we leave behindBaby we can run, run, run but we can’t hide (….no, we can’t hide.)

Waimoku Falls – Hana, Maui (copyright 2010 JoshWillTravel)

Can You Handle The Truth?

Wild Geese Over the San Fernando Valley

LOVE YOUR MOTHER EARTH!

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50 years ago, Dec 4, 1965: Jerry, Bob, Phil, Bill & Pigpen first played music as the Grateful Dead, the house band for Ken Kesey and the Merry Prankster’s Acid Test in San Jose, California!

Can You Pass the Acid Test? Nov 27, 1965 at Ken Babbs’ Chicken Farm

“This is a One-of-A-Kind Poster, hand drawn, and not mass distributed for the event. It is likely the only one made, or at least, the only one that survived. At this point in the early acid test days, Posters and handbills were not being used to advertise events. Instead, small Posters were placed up in local coffee shops and hangouts around town, of which there were several up and down the bay, but the most prominent of these was a little place called the Catalyst. At the time, it was a lively coffee shop, but now it has moved up the street and small bands play there, as it has been turned into a club. This particular item was taken down by someone from the Catalyst Coffee Shop at the time. I spoke to Lee Quarnstrom, who worked at the Hip Pocket Bookstore in ’65, and lived at the Spread, and attended the event. Lee stated something extremely revealing to me in a private conversation when I visited with him. Lee stated, “The Hip Pocket Bookstore and the Catalyst were connected together. A person could walk from one to the other without ever going outside or leaving the building.” This statement reveals a lot. What it means is that this Poster could be the main advertising and only advertising for the first Acid Test event, besides the sign Norman Hartweg tacked onto the board that belonged to Babbs. Or maybe this was the sign? Either way, in my opinion, this is the most important piece of Acid Test history to survive. Truly Miraculous!”

The next acid test took place fifty years ago in the wee hours of Dec. 4, 1965 at Big Nig’s house, a rambling old Edwardian near downtown San Jose, after the Rolling Stones had played a show at the San Jose Civic Auditorium, a 3000 seat venue built in 1934, with the Dead and Kesey’s gang in attendance. After the Stones’ concert, the Pranksters passed out Crayon-lettered handbills for a house party. Their cryptic message was a street address and the words: “Can YOU Pass the Acid Test?” About 300 to 400 people showed up and the Grateful Dead played until the police broke up the party.

“NO LEFT TURN UNSTONED!”

The First Acid Tests in 1965

27 November; Santa Cruz (Ken Babbs’ Chicken Farm in Soquel), California (first performance by the Grateful Dead, still known as the Warlocks)

In December 1983, I sat on the sidewalk before one of the New Year’s shows and watched Bill Graham yell at a scalper (and threaten him with violence) on the street corner in front of the San Francisco Civic Auditorium for selling tickets above face value (which was $15 for each of the 3 shows and $20 on New Year’s Eve plus service charges).

2015 is the 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead! Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Band from Palo Alto became The Warlocks and they became The Grateful Dead in 1965.

The Grateful Dead early 70s

So to CASH IN on the anniversary, the “Core Four” (Bobby, Phil, Bill and Mickey) and promoter Peter Shapiro, have resurrected the band name, retired after Jerry’s death in 1995, and announced three “final” shows at Soldier Field in Chicago 4th of July weekend.*

Here are the TOP TEN REASONS WHY “FARE THEE WELL” CAN GO TO HELL:

1. There is no Grateful Dead without Jerry Garcia.

2. Chicago in July on 4th of July weekend? WRONG.

3. Only 3 shows in Chicago… (rumors of additional shows in Santa Clara and New York at the end of June without Phil and Trey are currently circulating)

4. Trey from Phish. WRONG.

5. No Camping in Chicago on 4th of July weekend? Where are 200,000 people going to sleep?

(see the article at the bottom of the Blog for all the GREEDY DETAILS)

8. Phish heads = “In-the-Dark heads”. WRONG. JUST WRONG.

9. All the ingredients for a “Bad Trip”. It’s not about the music or the fans, it’s a CASH GRAB and all about MONEY. How much will you “pay-per-view”?

10. Complete SELL OUT and CASH GRAB! What Would Jerry Do?

“Come hear Uncle John’s Band by the riverside…”

There is no Grateful Dead without Jerry Garcia. PERIOD. END OF STORY.

NOTE: Historically, the Chicago Police and the Illinois State Police have a bad record with “hippies” and Grateful Dead fans. Why wasn’t a state where marijuana is legal chosen?

Grateful Dead Movie 1977 directed by Jerry Garcia

NOTE: I saw The Dead in May, 2009 at the Forum in Los Angeles with Warren Haynes and it was cool, but it was not the Grateful Dead.

——————————————————————————————————

It’s the 50th Anniversary of the Good Ol’ Grateful Dead!

I got on the bus in the late 70s. Dad was in the music business. I discovered American Beauty and Skull & Roses among the Warner Brothers promotional albums that were delivered to the house. I was a rebellious young teenager, and it was just after the Grateful Dead’s historic trip to Egypt, the Closing of Winterland and “The Grateful Dead Movie” and before the 15th Anniversary shows at the Warfield and Radio City Music Hall, that I became a fan.

Before the internet, it was a simple message inside the Skull & Roses album liner notes:

“DEAD FREAKS UNITE: Who are you? Where are you? How are you?Send us your name and address and we’ll keep you informed.Dead Heads, P.O. Box 1065, San Rafael, California 94901.”

The first live show I saw was December 13, 1980** at the Long Beach Arena. I remember the Grateful Dead played a full acoustic set before playing two electric sets, but I don’t find any mention of the acoustic set in the historical record.

Feel Like a Stranger, Sugaree, C.C. Rider, To Lay Me Down, New Minglewood Blues, Ramble on Rose, Lost Sailor, Saint of Circumstance, Deal

I saw some amazing shows! New Year’s Eve 83-84 with The Band and 84-85 with the Neville Brothers at the San Francisco Civic (now Bill Graham Memorial) Auditorium, New Year’s Eve 85-86 at Henry J. Kaiser Auditorium, the Marin Benefit shows, Chinese New Year 85 & 86, Anaheim 87 with Dylan, Santa Cruz/Watsonville 84, Ventura 82-83-84-85, UCLA 82, Laguna Seca 87, the Greek Theater 84 “Darkstar” and many more. I also saw the Jerry Garcia Band at The Stone in San Francisco a few times back in the 80s.

Some of my Grateful Dead ticket stubs (copyright 2010 JoshWillTravel)

I went to college at UC Santa Cruz and connected with fellow Deadheads there. We had a connection to first generation soundboard tapes 83-85. I became friends with Bob Thomas through friends at the Renaissance Faire and developed a list of one-named deadhead friends: Leo from Berkeley, Shorty from UMass, Jim from Santa Cruz, Dave from Humboldt, Robert & Frannie from Willets, and many others. I never met any of the band members in person, but I would see Phil’s red BMW and Bobby’s Corvette when I lived in Marin. And I did meet Grace Slick once at the movies at Larkspur Landing.

Remember cassette tapes? This was how you heard live shows before the internet.

I lost it a little when Jerry got busted in Golden Gate Park for heroin. I pretty much stopped going to shows after 1988, when the crowd was overrun by ignorant “In-the-Darkheads”, and everyone was selling something instead of sharing the experience. I was saddened and disappointed by Brent’s overdose in 1990, such a waste….

The last Grateful Dead show I saw was December 18, 1994 at the Sports Arena in Los Angeles. We sat behind the stage and watched Jerry “recharge” backstage during the breaks in the show.

Victim or the Crime, Crazy Fingers, Playing in the Band, Terrapin Station, Drums, Space (aborted Spanish Jam), This Might Be The Last Time, Attics of My Life, Johnny B. Goode

Encore: It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue

Jerry died in 1995 and the Grateful Dead as a performing band died with him.

p.s. If Bill Graham were alive he would kick the sh*t out of Peter Shapiro.

In December 1983, I sat on the sidewalk before one of the New Year’s shows and watched Bill Graham yell at a scalper on the street corner in front of the San Francisco Civic Auditorium for selling tickets above face value (which was $15 for each of the 3 shows and $20 on New Year’s Eve).

**I actually first saw the Grateful Dead live around 1970 when I was taken to an outdoor festival by my parents, but it’s just a hazy memory of childhood now.

Ladies and gentlemen, not the Grateful Dead by Stuart Sallo

“that’s the Grateful Dead I want to remember, not a cover band that happens to have some of the original members, and certainly not a musical spectacle that serves big-moneyed interests, such as Ticketmaster, StubHub, eBay, the City of Chicago and whatever other corporate entities are in on this colossal rip off.”

DO NOT PAY SCALPER PRICES! BUY IN JUNE Keep these auctions at 0 bids!! Scalpers are holding on to their better seats to sell later after they liquidate the crappy ones. Dead Heads stick together and wait until June, there will be lots of tickets available. Many Heads will receive their tickets and realize they can’t go and sell for a fair price. Scalper Scum will also have a ton left to sell. All these scalpers are scattered throughout the country, they will not be coming to Soldier Field to peddle them outside the stadium, they will need them sold before show dates. Most Dead Heads are NOT buying at these inflated and outrageous prices. Only a handful of people with what seems to be more money than brains are buying. Almost all auctions are ending unsold and have to be re-posted. Stub Hub have 851 more tickets to sell today than they did on March 7!! 254 more tickets on StubHub in just 3 days!!! Even with some sold, more are now for sale, does that tell you something, inventory is growing!!

More tickets, better seats, and lower prices will be what follows over the course of time. We just need to remain calm and good things will follow. Dead Heads did NOT pay over face value for 30 years when Jerry was alive, let’s not start now. Maybe a small premium but that is it. Honor Jerry and the band, we WILL get tickets. Teach the Scalper Scum that you don’t mess with Dead Heads!!

UPDATE 12-2-2016: editing old drafts that never got published I found this:

Fare Thee Well – Not the Grateful Dead, but an incredible simulation!

“What a long strange trip it’s been!”

The farewell concerts! Two shows in Santa Clara at Levi’s Stadium (San Jose) in the San Francisco Bay Area and three shows in Chicago at Soldier Field.

I had the urge to jump in the car and drive to San Jose, but “real life” obligations prevented it from happening. My friends live 15 minutes from the stadium and by most reports, I could have scored tickets for both shows cheap. No regrets? Hmmmmm…..

Funny thing about Chicago: My father’s family has a reunion and picnic every 5 years in Lincoln Park in Chicago on the 4th of July weekend. It’s been family tradition since the 1920’s, and it was scheduled for this year. So when the concerts were announced in February, we already had an invitation and a group rate at a hotel close to Soldier Field. But after much consideration, we decided not to make the trip and/or pay the high ticket prices. No regrets? Hmmmmm…..

I also decided not to spend $100 on the five show internet stream broadcast or $30 on the “pay-per-view” 4th of July broadcast. Instead I listened to a FREE live audio stream on UStream and another on Mixlr (and on SiriusXM Grateful Dead channel which I have in the car). I also saw some of the Santa Clara video broadcast on a “bootleg” stream and then watched the post-show videos on Youtube.

I miss Jerry and Brent! Bobby was alway a great #2 guy, but he can’t lead the band. Phil Lesh is one of the greatest bass guitar players in rock and roll history, but he can’t sing!

Bruce Hornsby played with the Grateful Dead for a couple years in the 90s and he can sing. Jeff Chimenti is a great keyboard player, but neither can play or sing like Brent.

Now I’m going to talk about Trey Anastasio from Phish and the choice to have him play with the band, so Phish-heads and Trey fans get ready….

Trey did a good job playing in the band for these shows, but he’s no Jerry Garcia. I’ve never really been a big Phish or Trey fan. I always thought it was a place where “In-The-Dark-heads” went after Jerry died and the Grateful Dead decided to quit without him. There are other guitar players who know the music better and play more of a “Jerry style” than Trey. I saw The Dead in 2009 with Warren Haynes and it was cool but it wasn’t the Grateful Dead, just like this time around. Trey doesn’t have the experience of jamming with the “core four” for years and has a different musical style.

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